Co-Continuous Hierarchial Porous Materials for Electrochemical Storage and Gas Separation Applications

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Many of today's high performance materials are required to perform multiple functions to be most effective for a variety of reactive transport applications such as, adsorbents for carbon dioxide capture, electrodes for batteries or low temperature fuel cells, membranes for water treatment or anti-bacterial agents for biomedical applications. The required material systems are often combinations of different materials (heterogeneous) placed at specific locations throughout the system (hierarchical) with controlled pores, channels and active particles. Traditionally such a material is designed for a primary function, such as transport efficiency, with only secondary consideration of other properties such as density or strength. By coupling rigorous experimental methods, a new design approach will be developed that considers both the material properties along with fabrication and structural aspects allowing for the comprehensive tailoring of properties for the materials system for a specific application. The design framework developed in this project is not specific for one material so will have far reaching applications for many complex materials systems for use in energy systems. To enable a paradigm shift in the design of porous heterogeneous hierarchical materials for reactive transport processes, Dr. Trifkovic will incorporate the new class of soft materials recently pioneered in her group. The materials can comprise  inorganic and/or organic scaffold designed with multiple levels and distributions of porosities, tortuosities and particle sizes, which can be decorated with active sites, often nanoscale inorganic compounds. The active sites can be incorporated during or after "construction" of the scaffold. A rigorous multi-scale experimental approach will be implemented for analysis of property-structure relationships for materials identification of appropriate scaffold and active site materials.   The proposed program aims at innovative process for the manufacturing of hierarchically structured materials which have a potential to overcome mass transfer limitations in multiple sectors and revolutionize the way we fabricate these materials. This platform aligns with the national priorities in energy green-house gas mitigation and Environment and Climate Adaptation. CO2 reduction has been an ongoing challenge for the province of Alberta and Canada. The Canadian government has recently announced a new challenge aimed at accelerating battery innovation to better position the country in the global market. The new materials developed through this program will accelerate these developments and help position Canada as a global leader in CO2 capture and efficient energy storage and conversion sector.